Ralo Surrel was a pilot of the male human species. He fought for the Alliance to Restore the Republic in the early years of the Galactic Civil War. Serving as a member of Red Squadron, Surrel achieved the rank of major. He frequently served as a wingmate to Garven Dreis, who was known as Red Leader. Battles such as Scarif and Yavin saw Surrel's participation, but Yavin is where he ultimately perished.
Before joining the rebellion to fight against the Galactic Empire, Ralo Surrel worked as a stunt pilot. He would fly old-fashioned aircraft for the entertainment of crowds in the Outer Rim. By the year 0 BBY, Surrel had become a Rebel Alliance pilot in Red Squadron, holding the [rank](/article/major](/article/major) and based at Base One located on the fourth moon of Yavin. Surrel often flew as wingmate alongside Theron Nett for Commander Garven Dreis, who was known as Red Leader. There was a time when Surrel and Dreis were scheduled to pilot Shift Cycle 1, an X-wing patrol mission. This mission involved flying from Yavin to the Gordian Trace Relays, visually confirming all-clear status, and performing a close uplink of passive relay recordings.
Surrel was one of the participants in the Battle of Scarif, fighting alongside the rest of Red Squadron. As the Rogue One squad worked to steal the plans to the Death Star superweapon from the Imperial Center of Military Research on the planet, Red Squadron engaged the Imperial TIE fighter garrison in aerial combat. He flew as Red Eleven, again acting as wingman to Red Leader. Surrel made it through the battle alive, during which the plans were successfully transmitted to a corvette commanded by Princess Leia Organa.
Eventually, the plans made their way to the rebel base on Yavin, where General Jan Dodonna gathered the rebel pilots. The Death Star was rapidly closing in on the rebel base, but Dodonna told the pilots they would try to exploit a weakness in the battle station's design: a thermal exhaust port that would allow proton torpedoes to destroy the station's main reactor. After the briefing, Surrel, along with Zal Dinnes and Dreis, went into the Red Squadron ready room. For the final flight plan of the squadron, Puck Naeco (Red Twelve) took his place as Dreis' port wingman. Surrel was instead put in charge of second flight, with John D. Branon (Red Four) and Cdt. Harb Binli (Red Seven) as his wingmates.
As they got closer to the Death Star, Dreis instructed Red Squadron to fly across the battle station's axis, drawing fire from the Imperial turbolaser cannons, while Gold Squadron's Y-wings made their attack run on the meridian trench. Shortly after, Imperial TIE fighters were launched, and they began to eliminate members of Red Squadron. Branon, Surrel's wingmate, was the first to fall to the enemy fighters, followed soon after by Binli. As Lt. Nozzo Naytaan (Red Nine) was shot down, Surrel was left alone, surrounded by TIE fighters. Although Col Takbright, a grounded pilot, urged command to pull Surrel out of the fight, his pleas were ignored. Red Eleven gave his life, buying time for Luke Skywalker (Red Five) to make his final run on the exhaust port.
Skywalker, aided by the Force, successfully hit the target with his proton torpedoes, destroying the station and ensuring the rebellion's survival. In 1 ABY, Skywalker, along with fellow rebels Han Solo, Wedge Antilles, Zev Senesca, Derek Klivian, and Chewbacca, raised a toast at Mess Hall IV in the Mako-Ta Space Docks to honor the Red Squadron members who had died, including Surrel.
Ralo Surrel was seen by Outer Rim audiences as a charming stunt pilot who flew unstable antiques for their enjoyment.
Ralo Surrel, as a Rebel Alliance X-wing starfighter pilot, wore an orange flight suit, along with a white flak vest, a gray flight harness, a Diagnostech life support unit, dark gray gloves, and black boots. His K-22995 light flight helmet was white and had a red and gray checkered pattern above the visor, a red and gray stripe along the center ridge, and a black symbol on each side.
In the Anthology Series film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the character of Ralo Surrel is portrayed by Russell Balogh. Before the film's release on December 16, 2016, the character was initially revealed in the film's first teaser trailer, which was released on April 7 of that year.
The short story "Duty Roster," written by Jason Fry and published in 2017 as part of From a Certain Point of View—a collection of short stories by various authors—established Surrel as the pilot who flew as Red Eleven during the Battle of Yavin. This retconning integrated him into the 1977 original trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, and its junior novelization. Surrel takes the place previously held by Wenton Chan in the Star Wars Legends continuity. In canon, "Duty Roster" established that Chan was grounded during the battle; however, he mentions Surrel's performance during the battle in the story.